Andrographolide (Andro) is the main active component of the herb Andrographis (Chinese name: “Chuanxinlian” or  Latin name: Herba Andrographitis Paniculatae). Andrographis Herb is widely used in many Asia countries including China, India, Japan, Korea, etc. for the treatment of inflammatory diseases including rheumatic arthritis, pharyngolaryngitis, diarrhea, and bacterial and viral infections (Zhao and Fang, Chin. Med. J. (Engl) 1991, 104, 770-775; Puri et al., J. Nat. Prod. 1993, 56, 995-999; Zhang and Tan, Clin. Exp. Pharmacol. Physiol. 1996, 23, 675-678; Zhang and Tan, Clin. Exp. Pharmacol. Physiol. 2000, 27, 358-363; Shen et al., Br. J. Pharmacol. 2002, 35, 399-406). A recent report indicated that andrographolide inhibited a broad-spectrum of cancers and exhibited good therapeutic effects (Rajagopal et al., J. Exp. Ther. Oncol. 2003, 3, 147-158; Satyanarayana et al. Science 2003, 299, 363-370). In Malaysia, Andrographis is widely used for the treatment of diabetes. During the last 30 years, andrographolide and its 3 derivatives, potassium dehydroandrograpolide succinate (“Chuanhuning” or ), potassium sodium dehydroandrographolide succinate (“Yanhuning” or ) and andrographolide sodium bisulfite (“Lianbizhi” or ) have been widely used in the clinic in China. The structure formulas of andrographolide (Andro) and its derivatives, Chuanhuning, Yanhuning and Lianbizhi are as follows:

These drugs can alleviate clinical symptoms of inflammation, fever, and bacterial and viral infection diseases (Hendrickson et al., J. Bacteriol. 2001, 183, 7126-7134; Zhang and Tan, Clin. Exp. Pharmacol. Physiol. 1996, 23, 675-678; Zhang et al., Clin. Exp. Pharmacol. Physiol. 2000, 2358-368; Shen et al., Br. J. Pharmacol. 2002, 35, 399-406; Gabrielian et al., Phytomedicine 2002, 9, 589-597).